An example of problems solved by this invention is how to deal with noisy lines on a conference call. In most conference call systems every endpoint is comprised of a handset. During these conference calls, many factors, including network traffic or other connection issues can cause a degraded signal. In general, this is not a problem for the other participants except in the case when the participant(s) who is having difficulty causes generation of audible noise in the conference call. This can be distracting, if not debilitating, for the other conference attendees. It would be useful if there was a way to pin point the problem connection and let that specific person know about it.
Today, there are two known solutions to this issue. In more expensive conferencing hardware, there are sometimes monitors included which can display which caller/callee is speaking, this can be used to determine which caller is sending audio traffic to the conference. Another solution is that the system can be set up to automatically inspect each individual line and determine which line is making noise. The system then mutes that “troublesome” line. These methods have some significant drawbacks. In the first situation with the monitor, the overall equipment cost is increased. The need for a separate monitor drives up cost as well as system complexity. In the second scenario, the main issue is creating an efficient system for detecting device noise. It can be difficult for the system to determine what lines are causing noise and the systems which do attempt to do so are clumsy and not reliable.